The Girl with the Pearl
by caitiejane26
Summary: Peeta is rescued alongside Finnick and Beetee from the Quarter Quell. Katniss and Johanna are captured by the Capitol Forces. A story of how Peeta helps the rebels rescue the girl he loves. Peeta's POV. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

I wake up, tangled in my blankets. I can feel the sweat on my body as I try and release the pressure of the blankets from around my torso. My breathing is ragged, and I try and steady it as I play this game that my doctor suggested for me to organise my thoughts.

_My name is Peeta Mellark. I am 17 years old. I have been in The Hunger Games twice. The girl I love has been taken by the Capitol. She could be dead, maybe it's better if she is dead. _

The last thought has terrified me for the past 2 months as I live here, underground District 13. My dreams, no wait, nightmares, have been plagued by the thought of Katniss Everdeen, the only girl I have ever loved, being tortured or maybe even killed by the forces of the Capitol. I wake to find that my nightmares may be a reality.

I check my watch to find that it is already 6am, and the sun is should be starting to rise. _Good,_ I think, _today is the day I present my plan for the rebel forces to try to rescue Katniss_.

After showering, I change into my regulation District 13 clothing. Everyone wears the same white shirt, tucked into black pants with a black belt and shoes. I hate it. But the rebels in District 13 have been nice enough; welcoming we District 12 refugees and giving us food and shelter. Not only is the clothing regulated, but the food is too. We are only given a specified amount that is calculated from our age, height and weight. It's not so hard for me to get used to; I'm used to going hungry.

Gale Hawthorne, Katniss' best friend is ahead of me in the line. Things haven't exactly been easy between the two of us since he declared his love for her before the Quarter Quell, and I declared mine before our first outing to The Hunger Games. The only thing we have in common is our determination to bring Katniss back to District 13.

"Turnips again, huh?" I say to his back, causing him to turn around. Gale gives me a slight smile and moves forward where a ladle full of turnips are sloshed into his bowl.

"Looks like it. I'm not complaining though, it looks better than that concoction they served us yesterday".

Gale and I take our seats on the table designated for the District 12 refugees. Gale sits next to his little sister Posy, who giggles are he pokes her in her stomach.

"Better eat all that up, Posy, or you'll never be as beautiful as me!"

Posy giggles and replies, "I don't want to look like you when I grow up, I want to look like Katniss!"

It feels like I have been hit in the stomach. Gale looks up wordlessly at me and says, "Yes Posy, she is beautiful, just like you", and starts to eat his turnips. I stare at mine; they look more tasteless that before. Little comments like that increase the pain that has been in my chest for the past two months. I never knew I could miss a person like this.

Our table finishes breakfast without another word, and Gale and I check our schedules to see that we are both needed in Command. Gale and I usually spend most of our time down there anyway, so it's no surprise that we are needed again today.

Gale doesn't know of my plan today, but I'm sure he will agree with it; he wants Katniss here with us as much as I do.

President Coin sits us all down and starts with her normal analysis of the position of the rebels in the eleven other districts. Apart from District 2, the rebels are making good progress in overturning the Capitol forces that control them. When she turns the discussion over to the rest of us, I jump in first with my proposition.

"We need to rescue Katniss".


	2. Chapter 2

Command is quiet, except for the hum of the Panem hologram in the centre of the table. I can see Haymitch out of the corner of my eye, and I can see him watching me closely. He must want her back here too, after all, he did choose her in the first Games. I determinedly stare straight at Coin, waiting to see her initial reaction. I can see her contemplating my proposition, then comes to a conclusion.

"We don't know how to get to her. And besides, we don't know how she is being treated".

"Well she's not at a day spa, I think that much is clear," Haymitch thunders, banging his fist on the table.

"No, that much I don't think is true," replies Coin. Haymitch sighs and leans back; understanding sarcasm is not a strong point of President Coin.

Gale finally speaks up and agrees with me. "Whatever is happening to her can't be good. They will assume she has rebel information and won't give up until she breaks. Plutarch, can't you gather some intel on her condition or where she is being held?"

All eyes turn to Plutarch Heavensbee, Head Gamemaker, who sits back in his chair, with his arms folded over his protruding belly. Being from the Capitol, he hasn't adjusted to District 13 life as easily as the rest of us.

"It is a possibility that I can talk to my people on the inside, but to attack the Capitol now, while many of the rebels are still fighting to capture the districts could be disastrous for our cause."

"But don't you think if we don't rescue her, it could be disastrous for HER?" I yell, angry that no one but Gale and Haymitch seem to see the point that I am making. "Katniss is the face of the rebellion, and how do you think it is going to look to the rest of the rebels in the districts if Thirteen seems to be doing nothing about rescuing their Mockingjay from the clutches of the Capitol?"

Plutarch considers this and presses his forefingers to his temples. He sighs, then replies. "Okay, I'll give it ago. I'll talk to my trusted sources and see what information I can gather about Katniss and the other tributes that were taken by the Capitol that night."

In the last night in the Quarter Quell, when Betee, the tribute from District 3 designed a plan, and with the help of Katniss, blew out the arena, the rebel forces flew in and rescued some of us. Unfortunately, only Finnick, Betee and I were rescued. Katniss and Joanna, the tribute from District 7 were captured by the Capitol before the rebels could get another hovercraft in to get them. I wasn't happy about it, when I realised that Katniss hadn't been made a priority by Haymitch. I let him know about it too. He still has the black eye to prove that I'm not happy with him. Gale probably would have given him one too, if he knew Haymitch better. The only consolation I feel is that he has been forced into sobriety. Now we finally get to see the real Haymitch.

"Good," I reply and look over at Gale. He is nodding in approval. "What can we do to help?"


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you are all enjoying my first fanfiction :) It would be really great if you could review it for me! I'd love you all forever!**

For the next two weeks, not many of us see Plutarch. He spends most of his time locked away in President Coin's office communicating with his sources on the inside of the Capitol. I spend most of my time in the hospital, completing my therapy. My head doctor keeps insisting that I am safe, which I can't see. I may be physically safe, but what about my mental safety? With the completion of each day, I feel my grip on reality to be loosening. My doctor gets me to paint my feelings, which does help, but my canvases are usually filled with pictures that I can relate to Katniss; her hand in mine, her smile that only a few of us can elicit from her, the cheese buns that I used to regularly bake for her. Painting is my only escape from this drab life in Thirteen. I can paint beautiful things which are deemed unnecessary by the President.

Haymitch comes by regularly, but doesn't talk to me. He simply sits at the end of my bed, and I can see him watching my hand as I place the strokes of paint on the canvasses. Sometimes he sleeps.

It's been two weeks since my proposal, and I'm beginning to get restless. Both Gale and I want an answer; we both want her home. It's crossed my mind, that when Katniss is rescued and brought back to Thirteen, that she may well choose Gale over me. While this thought hurts, I would much rather see her happy with Gale, than see her stiff cold body being lowered into the ground. Don't get me wrong, I will fight for her, but I won't make life hard for her when she makes her decision.

Gale also comes by the hospital regularly, and unlike Haymitch, has plenty to say. We both have theories on what Plutarch could be getting up to in the President's office, and what sort of information he is able to collect. One day Gale comes up with a ridiculous theory.

"What if Plutarch isn't using all this time in Coin's office to gather intel on Katniss? Maybe he just wants to spend time alone with Coin?"

I burst out laughing, and turn to Gale, expecting to see him smiling, because this could be the most ridiculous thing I've heard since I came back from the Quell, but he sits there with a straight look on his face. I stop laughing, because maybe Gale is serious, but this only causes him to crack a smile. After that, things are much easier between us.

After a month, Plutarch finally calls us back into Command. Sitting around the table when I arrive with Gale is President Coin, Boggs, her second in command, Plutarch's assistant Fulvia, Finnick, Betee, Haymitch and a man I don't recognise, who introduces himself as Dalton, from District 10. Plutarch patiently waits for us to take a seat, and illuminates the hologram of Panem and zooms in on the Capitol itself.

"Okay, so from what I can gather, Katniss is being held, along with her prep team and Cinna in the west wing of the Capitol's Justice Building. The information on her condition is a little hazy though, as she is not permitted to leave the room, obviously. There is only a small amount of people allowed to tend to her and her team, and they are not any of my people."

He pauses, and looks at the effect what he is saying is having on the rest of us. I keep my face neutral, free of any emotion. Plutarch looks at me, then quickly shifts his gaze to the hologram. The west wing on the justice building has been highlighted in green.

"Now," he continues, "my other sources tell me that the rebels are having a poor time in the Capitol and they advise me that it would be unwise to attempt to rescue Katniss at this time".

This statement causes both Gale and I to protest. Plutarch raises his hands in the air, and Gale and I grow quiet.

"It would be unwise, as the rebels don't have a firm enough grip on the districts; but that doesn't mean that we aren't going to try," Plutarch says, smiling at us. "We need our Mockingjay, and besides, I'm a Gamemaker; I never listen to anyone."

We allow his decision to sink in. His assistant, Fulvia jumps in with her proposition.

"The last thing we need is for the Capitol to think that we are planning on rescuing Katniss, so we need to film short segments that will hopefully make them believe that we are trying our best with the resources we have, for example, Beetee, Finnick, and of course, you Peeta."

"But what if Katniss sees the segments and thinks we've given up on her?" Gale asks.

Fulvia, it seems, has an answer to this too. "Well, that's a risk we're going to have to take."


	4. Chapter 4

Gale and I dedicate ourselves to the cause. Beetee too. Finnick, it seems, has trouble concentrating, so while he is anxious to help, he spends most of his time in hospital.

Somehow Plutarch managed to rescue my prep team from the Capitol before the rebels rescued us from the arena, but Portia hasn't been seen since she and Cinna helped to dress Katniss for our interviews for the Quarter Quell. It was risky what they did, dressing Katniss as a Mockingjay, but like Cinna says, "they channel their emotions into their work". Fortunately, for us, Plutarch wants us in our District 13 soldier clothing. Gale is at loathe to be made over by my prep team but understands that this is the best way for us to rescue Katniss.

Plutarch calls us all into Command, Finnick too, where he introduces us to our film crew. They all have a Capitol look about them, which makes it hard for me to instantly trust them. When they run us through their plans, I can see that it will be very risky and dangerous for all involved.

They want us to head into combat.

It is planned for Gale and me to be the faces of this 'mission', with Boggs to be the Commander. Over the past months, Gale and I have been trained by the soldiers in Thirteen to use a gun. Gale was a natural, but it took me awhile to master how to reassemble it. I mastered it in the end. We are shown what guns we will be using and the special features that these hold. Haymitch makes an appearance at the end of the meeting in Command only to mention that he will be instructing both Gale and I from above.

The rebels have a shaky hold on District 3, so it is decided that this is where we will be sent. As we begin our descent from Command to the Hovercraft, Plutarch instructs us to make our presence known to the Capitol forces, which in turn will hopefully inspire the embattled rebel forces to continue fighting to bring down the Capitol.

Once we're seated in the hovercraft, the soldiers from Thirteen fall silent. Gale and I look at each other, confused. Usually you can't shut the soldiers up. Boggs looks up to see our confused faces.

"It's a standard routine with us soldiers. We use the time in the air to mentally prep ourselves for the task that lies ahead. This was we feel that both our bodies and minds will be on the task."

I nod, and try to imagine what will lie ahead of us in District Three. I imagine bombed buildings and smoky electronic factories, with gun fire from both sides to contend with. Maybe it's my two trips to the arena that makes me think the worst possible scenarios, but I figure, the situation can't be worse than what I imagine.

I was wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: Hey guys! Thanks for reading so far! I love all the reviews that I've been getting. Please continue letting me know what you think of the story so far and anything I can improve!**

**Sorry for the last chapter, which was a bit short, but this one should make up for it!**

**Keep reviewing!**

It isn't just a few smoky buildings we're faced with. A block has been bombed. Recently. Parents run, screaming along the non-existent street, for their children. Children stumble aimlessly around, crying. Everyone has an injury of some sort. Women with missing limbs, men with blood covering their faces and children with cuts covering their bodies, wearing singed clothing.

"Shit," swears Gale. I know he's thinking of our district, wondering if this could have been us, if the rebellion had started after the third Quarter Quell. I feel like swearing myself, but this scene has rendered me speechless.

"The plan was to put you in a safer district, so it looked like you were helping to overcome the Capitol forces. This wasn't meant to happen," Boggs is straight onto Commander Coin back in Thirteen.

I hitch the gun Thirteen issued me higher on my shoulder. I take a tentative few steps forward, trying to take everything in. People push past me, yelling for family members. Cressida and her cameramen keep their cameras trained on Gale and I, recording our reactions. I know I must keep calm, even when my whole body is screaming. How can the Capitol do something like this?!

Boggs comes back and gives us the all clear to move forward. Cressida wants to film us in the hospital. No one really knows which direction to head. Boggs takes the lead, and the rest of us fall in line. We walk for about 10 minutes, trying to comprehend the atrocities that we witness. Boggs' plan was to follow the direction of people, but after awhile we realise this is pointless. People are running in every direction, both disorientated and trying to find people.

"This is ridiculous, we're not getting anywhere," Boggs consults his radio, pressing a few numbers. "Commander? This is Soldier Boggs from District Thirteen. We are trying to locate your makeshift hospital, but there is confusion as to its location. Please advise." Three's Commander replies with various co-ordinates which Boggs' second-in-command, Jackson inserts them into the hand held electronic map.

"Right, got it," Jackson says, handing the map to Boggs. Boggs turns 90 degrees and heads off. We all fall in line.

200 metres up the road, we come across a building that has been relatively untouched by the recent bomb attack. Someone has painted a bright red 'H' on the top of the large door to the building.

"This is it," I say, slowing down. Gale stops, and frowns at the building.

Mesalla, Cressida's offsider, calls Gale and I over, where he touches up our makeup. Gales sighs; this is not what he expected.

I enter the hospital first, not knowing what to expect. All of a sudden, this overwhelming stench of burnt and festering human flesh, vomit and blood reaches me. I've never had a strong stomach, and I only just make it outside when my breakfast makes a reappearance. Satisfied that there is nothing left in my stomach, I take a deep breath and push the door open.

"Peeta!" I walk to Gale, where Cressida has been talking to him. "She wants you to make your presence known, it might give people some hope." I nod, unsure of what good I will be. People see Katniss as the face of the rebellion. It was, after all, she who held out the Nightlock that began this.

I know that Pollux, the Avox cameraman is recording me. I take another deep breath and start my way around the large warehouse. On every side of me is injured people and their loved ones. I find a child who is on her own and join her. I crouch down next to her and take her hand. The bandage covering her right eye needed changing ages ago; it's covered in blood.

"You're going to be fine," I tell her, in the calmest voice I can handle. "These doctors are going to do the best they can to help you." Tears start to form in her good eye. "Hey, it's okay. You're going to be okay," I say, brushing her dark brown hair from her forehead.

It's then that I notice. Her hair is the exact shade of Katniss'. I try to ignore the hollow feeling in my stomach. Katniss would be so much better at this than me.

Cressida urges me on, so I give the girl's hand another reassuring squeeze and move on. I look back, and her good eye has closed. Snow doesn't care about children. He doesn't care about anyone, except himself.

The uninjured call out to me, and I join them and talk to their injured loved ones. They ask me questions about Katniss and our child, and I try to appear enthusiastic about our future. I also try to reassure them the best ways I can. The majority of people I talk to, vow to continue fighting the Capitol, no matter what the cost.

As we make our way to the entrance, I look at the people closest to the doors; the people who only just made it to the Hospital. The girl closest to the wall has long, dark brown hair. Brown hair that my fingers used to use to practise making knots. Brown hair that I used to burrow my head into. Brown hair that belongs to the only person left in this world that I love.

"Katniss!"


End file.
